Archive for the ‘free elections’ Category

The world has watched in horror recently as Tibetan monks, nuns and laypeople engaged in peaceful demonstrations have been met with brutality by the Chinese People’s Armed Police. Tibet‘s descent into chaos and violence is heartbreaking. As has been made clear by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has dedicated his life to peacefully promoting the Tibetan people’s legitimate aspirations for cultural autonomy and survival, lasting peace and meaningful change must be achieved through nonviolent means.

In watching recent coverage of the demonstrations in Tibet and their bloody aftermath, I have been reminded of a turning point in my own life, the moment I decided I had no choice but to speak out against the Chinese government’s policy of cultural destruction and its human rights abuses. It was a decision that led to six years in a Chinese prison and then to exile in the United States. Two of my sons are serving lengthy prison sentences in East Turkestan in retaliation for my human rights advocacy.

In February 1997, thousands of Uighurs demanding equality, religious freedom and an end to repression by the government peacefully protested in the Ghulja region of East Turkestan, an area designated the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region by the Chinese government. Armed paramilitary police confronted the unarmed demonstrators and bystanders, killing dozens on the spot, including women and young children. In the aftermath of the protest, thousands of Uighurs were detained on suspicion of participating in the demonstration. Tragically, hundreds of Uighurs were executed.

Just as I grieved with and for the families of the Uighurs killed in the Ghulja massacre, I grieve for the families of peaceful Tibetan demonstrators who have been killed or detained by Chinese police, perhaps never to be seen again. I have seen firsthand the suffering of parents who have lost their sons or daughters to an executioner’s bullet or a dark prison cell.

Because of our shared experience under the Chinese regime, Uighurs stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people and support their legitimate aspirations for genuine autonomy. The Chinese government’s fierce repression of religious expression, its intolerance for any expression of discontent, its discriminatory economic policies and its support for the movement of migrants have linked Tibet and East Turkestan and have led to the tremendous social tensions in both regions. To Beijing, any Tibetan or Uighur who is unhappy with China‘s harsh rule is a “separatist.” Uighurs are also labeled “terrorists.”

In reference to the article “Tibet called plot to ruin Olympics” (World, Wednesday),it is dismaying to see China’s government lay blame and trample media freedoms so close to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Chinese paramilitary policemen patrol along a street in Kangding county in Sichuan province. China turned its back on appeals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, vowing to smash anti-China forces in Tibet, where it said the death toll in recent unrest had risen to 19.(AFP/Teh Eng Koon)

.
The government has done everything possible to suppress the internal flow of information on its crackdown in Tibet, including shutting down China’s YouTube Web site and the access of journalists, both foreign and domestic, to Tibet.
.
Chinese journalist Hu Jia arrested last year without trial has been trotted out to have his day in court, or rather to provide a display that will surely intimidate other disobedient journalists.China human rights defender Hu Jia, pictured in 2007, went on trial in Beijing Tuesday, as the government scrambled to deflect global criticism of its human rights record amid a crackdown on protests in Tibet.(AFP/File/Frederic J. Brown)
.
These events mark the last straw for the international organization Reporters Without Borders, which on March 18 called for a boycott of the Olympic Games.
.
Indeed, the reach of Beijing’s media restrictions is not limited by national borders. Taiwan journalists are continually barred from covering international meetings such as the World Health Assembly due to China’s objections.
.
Information about the proceedings in these meetings is crucial to Taiwan’s 23 million citizens, as their government applies to participate in the World Health Organization annually on their behalf.
.
China cannot become a truly respected member of the international community until its government behaves like a worthwhile neighbor.
.
PHILIP SHIH
Press officer
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office

By Muhammad Khurshid
Khar, Bajaur Agency,Tribal Areas Pakistan
March 19, 2008
.
Journalists were thrashed by the security officials in front of National Assembly of Pakistan as they were covering the proceedings of the assembly.

Police guard the main entrance of the National Assembly during the election of its speaker in Islamabad March 19, 2008. Pakistan’s National Assembly elected its first woman speaker on Wednesday, a member of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which won elections last month.REUTERS/Mian Khursheed (PAKISTAN)

.
Journalists working in tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border have also been receiving threats from Taliban and terrorists, who have been ruling the areas nowadays.

So far several journalists were either killed by the terrorists or the security agencies in the troubled tribal areas. Situation in other parts of the country is not different as there the journalists have been facing immense pressure.

The journalists started protesting outside the Parliament House, when the security personnel cut off cables of their cameras.

The journalists from various news organization including news channels came to cover the proceedings of the 13th National Assembly on the occasion of election of speaker.

Law and order situation in Pakistan has been going from bad to worst. According to a newspaper comment, rising street crime in Karachi has touched new heights. While official figures of crime in the city tell one story, the reality seems to be something much different.
.
Police officials and senior government functionaries would have us believe that all is well and under control but incidents of mobile phone theft, mugging and burglaries in the city have shot up in the past couple of months. Particularly affected are the commercial areas of the city as well as the business districts where men on motorcycles accost pedestrians, motorcyclists and motorists in broad daylight and rob them of their valuables.
.
The slightest resistance can lead to death for some as the robbers seem desperate and ready to kill if their demands are not met. In the past week, there have been several cases where people were stopped in broad daylight in full public view and robbed. In most instances, people do not bother to register cases as this is another ordeal for them.
.
Pedestrians have been mugged in dark street corners, women have seen their earrings snatched from their ears and purses stolen, motorists have seen their cars broken into — and yet the police seem helpless in controlling this surge in street crime.

What is worrying is the fact that the government seems to be pumping considerable amount of money and resources in law-enforcement in the city but much of this does not end up in fighting crime. A high percentage of police resources are dedicated for VIP duties as well as protecting the high and mighty.
.
The lack of professionalism and accountability in the police forces has also meant a rise in corruption and unprofessional behaviour amongst men who are supposed to enforce and uphold the law. As a new political government takes office in Sindh later this month, it would be a good idea to examine the role and performance of the city’s police force and other law-enforcing agencies like the Rangers.
.
It is time long-term reforms were introduced in the police force to change the way the force is run. At the same time, the terms and conditions of service of policemen should be improved so that they are less prone to fall for corruption.
.
All this, however, requires political commitment and resolve. The new chief minister must work according to the peoples’ expectations, otherwise people will continue to suffer while the police look the other way.

BEIJING (AFP) – The Beijing Olympics were supposed to mark China‘s debut as a modern nation that commands respect, even admiration, but instead of that dream, the country’s leaders face a PR nightmare.

In this image made from video and provided by APTN, authorities walk down an avenue, Friday, March 14, 2008, in Gansu Province, Xiahe, China. Police fired tear gas to disperse Buddhist monks and others staging a second day of protests Saturday in western China in sympathy with anti-Chinese demonstrations in Lhasa, local residents said.(AP Photo/APTN)

A crackdown on unrest in Tibet has added to mounting pressure on China over human rights and other issues that threaten to tarnish the coming-out party, pushing its Communist leaders into an uncomfortable corner, analysts said.

“This is the worst thing that could have happened for China,” China scholar Jean Philippe Beja said of deadly unrest in the Tibetan capital Lhasa that has forced an army lock down of the city.

“The Chinese and Tibetan leaders are facing a no-win situation,” said Beja, of the Centre for International Research in Paris.

With five months to go before the world’s athletes begin competing here, China’s communist government finds itself teetering on a political balance beam, observers and dissidents said.

Aside from Tibet, China is under fire for its tough rule in the Muslim-dominated Xinjiang region, for restricting press and religious freedoms, and its support of Sudan, which is blamed for the massive bloodshed in Darfur.

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan officials and the ruling party’s presidential candidate condemned China’s move against rioters in Tibet, linking it to their own island that China claims as its own and has threatened with force.

“As we ook at Tibet, we must think about our own fate,” said Frank Hsieh, presidential candidate from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favours formal independence from China.

A Tibetan is arrested by police during anti-China protests in front of the United Nations office in Kathmandu March 15, 2008. Nepal has effectively closed Mount Everest to climbers until after May 10 to allow the Olympic flame to be carried to the top without being troubled by Tibetan protesters, a senior minister said on Friday.(Shruti Shrestha/Reuters)

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

“Tibet is a test case for China’s application of the anti-secession law,” Hsieh added, referring to Beijing’s 2005 edict authorising use of force in extreme cases against Taiwan.

Hsieh trails his opponent Ma Ying-jeou from the main opposition KMT opinion polls ahead of the March 22 election. The KMT once ruled all of China and is seen as more mainland-friendly.

Ma also condemned the violence on Saturday, but does not believe it relates to Taiwan, his spokesman Lo Chih-chiang said.

At a hearing this past week of the U.S. Senate Sub-Committee on East Asian & Pacific Affairs, Dr. Ngai Nguyen, Vice Secretary of the Democratic Party of Vietnam, in a prepared Statement, praised Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator James Webb for holding this important hearing to examine U.S. – Vietnam Relations.

Dr. Ngai Nguyen, the Vice Secretary of the Democratic Party of Vietnam, pointed out that Vietnam had shown some improvement in their behavior toward human rights in 2006 when it was eager to receive favorable trade relations agreements with the United States, and membership in the World Trade Organization.

But once these benefits were granted, the government of Vietnam in 2007 reverted to an increase in arrests of dissidents, incarceration of religious leaders and restrictions on both political and religious freedoms.

One recent example surrounded the death on February 7, 2008, of Mr. Hoang Minh Chinh, the founder of the Democratic Party of Vietnam.

Dr. Nhan Nguyen, a prominent cardiac surgeon at Stanford University, and a member of the DPV, traveled to Hanoi to attend the funeral. However, one day prior to the funeral, she was kidnapped and deported from the country.

Another recent example was the fact that Trung Tien Nguyen, at age 24 and a half, more than six years older than most recruits, was drafted into the Vietnamese army last month. He had a job and was still going to graduate school, but was singled out because he was a young and active member of the DPV in Vietnam.

At the hearing, Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, in response to a question from the Committee, stated “there is still only one authorized political party in Vietnam, the Communist Party.”

Dr. Nguyen also praised the release on March 11, 2008 of the Department of State’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices, 2007, which said, “The Vietnamese Government’s human rights record remains unsatisfactory.”

The primary mission of the Democratic Party of Vietnam is to persuade the Communist Party, through peaceful means, to recognize the freedoms of the UN Charter and to allow multi-political parties, freedom of press and religion and the right to produce private publications, and the opportunity to live in a free enterprise economy with free entry, exit and travel.

BEIJING — China is awash in policy proposals as more than 5,000 people meet this month to ratify laws handed down by Communist Party leaders. The official Chinese news media portray it as democracy in action — delegates, selected by local officials to represent their regions, offer ideas for laws they believe will improve conditions back home.China’s Polituro standing member and likely future successor to President Hu, Xi Jinping, foreground, delivers remarks as China’s President Hu Jintao looks on during the plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in this March 11, 2008 file photo. Entrusted with the Beijing Olympics and set to be made vice president, Xi Jinpeng is moving closer to cementing his status as China’s future president and Communist Party leader.(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The Great Hall of the People is not exactly filled with activists and partisans vigorously debating the future of the country’s leadership. That topic is off-limits. Still, the delegates are engaged in an elaborate process that analysts say is opening a window on President Hu Jintao‘s tentative efforts to make the Communist Party relevant and to provide a controlled forum for debate.

Chinese officials have trumpeted the openness and inclusiveness of this year’s two-week National People’s Congress (NPC) and a concurrent set of meetings by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress, the government’s top advisory body. Proposals are being published for public comment instead of just being offered for a rubber-stamp vote. There are noticeably more news conferences than in years past. And for the first time, several meetings of the provincial delegations have been opened to journalists.

In meetings, delegates can disagree with party positions and suggest alternatives, said David Shambaugh, director of the China policy program at George Washington University. “But if you go out and organize others,” he said, “the red line is crossed.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will use human rights talks with Vietnam in May to press for the release of political prisoners, including a U.S. citizen jailed last year, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia said on Wednesday.

woman walks past a branch of Vietnam’s Investment and Development Bank in Hanoi March 11, 2008.REUTERS/KHAM (VIETNAM)

U.S . Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, who visited Hanoi this month, told a U.S. Senate hearing he had raised the jailings of Nguyen Quoc Quan of California and other democracy activists with Vietnamese authorities and would keep on pressing these and other cases.

“We will continue to push vigorously for a greater expansion of the civil and political rights of all Vietnamese citizens and for the release of all political prisoners,” Hill said in a written statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Hill testified before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs a day after the State Department’s annual report….

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States took aim at Russia on Tuesday in its annual report on human rights, accusing the government of corruption and electoral abuses, but seemed to ease criticism of China ahead of the Olympic Games.

Paramilitary policemen stand in front of a us with Olympic mascots in the window as they watch delegates from the National People’s Congress (NPC) walk towards the Great Hall of the People in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square March 11, 2008.(David Gray/Reuters)

In examining human rights in more than 190 countries last year, the State Department also criticized its usual targets Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, China, Nepal, Syria and Zimbabwe.

“Countries in which power was concentrated in the hands of unaccountable rulers remained the world’s most systematic human rights violators,” said the report, which is widely resented by foreign governments that come under fire.

In a gesture likely to annoy human rights groups, the State Department did not include China among the world’s worst offenders like last year but Beijing‘s record on the issue was described as “poor.”

WASHINGTON – The United States branded China an authoritarian human rights abuser Tuesday, citing alleged torture, state control of basic aspects of daily life, tight controls on religion and harassment of foreign charities.

A woman holds a placard as she participates in the Sydney leg of the Global Human Rights Torch Relay (HRTR), in 2007. The US dropped China from its list of the world’s worst human rights violators, but added Syria, Uzbekistan and Sudan to the alleged offenders in an annual report released Tuesday.(AFP/File/Greg Wood)

China, host of the summer Olympics, has rampant and chronic human rights problems despite rapid economic growth that has transformed large parts of Chinese society, the State Department said in its annual accounting of human rights practices around the world.

The world’s most populous nation, China is an increasingly important U.S. trade partner and a chief competitor with the United States for energy and shrinking natural resources. It is the object of broad U.S. economic and diplomatic outreach, with mixed results.